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was wondering what she would say about herself that would even come close to rivaling the thrill of riding a board up a twenty-foot wave. Before she had to share her story though, a slow song came on and Justin put his beer down and said,
    “Dance with me Eva?”
    She looked back at Marshall; he was still on the phone, with his girlfriend, she reminded herself. Eva downed the rest of her drink and said,
    “I’d love to.”
    Justin took her by the hand and led her out to the dance floor. When they got there, he turned to face her and put his hands where Marshall’s were only minutes ago….before Simone called. Eva slipped her arms around Justin’s neck and they began to move slowly to the music. She suddenly felt Justin’s warm breath against her ear and she heard him say,
    “You’re really pretty, Eva.”
    She was about to thank him when she suddenly felt a hand on her arm. She looked up into Marshall’s face. He didn’t look happy.
    “Hey dude! The lady and I are dancing here,” Justin said.
    “The lady is with me,” Marshall said.
    “What?” Eva said in a drunken slur. “You were just on the phone with your girlfriend.”
    “Yeah, get your own girl preppy boy,” Justin said.
    Marshall shot Justin a warning look and said, “Come on, Eva. You’re drunk and you don’t have the capacity to make decisions like this tonight.”
    Marshall had always acted like he was her big brother, but he’d never been this over-bearing about it. He was taking Granddad’s words to the extreme.
    Eva had to think hard to put her sentence together. At last, she said, “This isn’t your business Marshall. You’re not in charge of what I do no matter how many drinks I’ve had. I’m a big girl.”
    Marshall muscled Justin back out of the way. The surfer stood there looking shocked and unsure of what to do next. Then Marshall leaned in and put his lips close to Eva’s ear. She felt his warm breath and her whole body convulsed. It was a much stronger reaction than the one she’d had when Justin had done the same thing only moments ago.
    “Granddad said for me to look out for you, remember? Come on, Eva…you’re too good for a guy like this. He’s only looking for one thing. I know that sober you’d never even consider it.”
    “Okay, that’s it,” Justin said, pushing his way back in and looking like he was suddenly spoiling for a fight.
    “No, don’t,” Eva said. She put one hand on Justin’s chest and one on Marshall’s to separate them. Her head was starting to hurt and she was feeling sick to her stomach all of a sudden. “I’m sorry, Justin. I just don’t feel well. Another time….” She took Marshall’s arm and she thought she heard him say,
    “Don’t hold your breath, loser,” but it was loud and she wasn’t sure. The room was suddenly spinning and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
    “I need some air,” she told him. Marshall didn’t say anything; he only nodded and led her to the door. When they hit the cool night air Eva felt better for just a second. Marshall was still holding onto her and she was grateful for that. She wasn’t sure if she could hold herself up any longer. They took a few steps away from the bar when she suddenly remembered Simone’s call and said,
    “I’m sorry; I forgot to ask you, what happened to Simone?”
    “It’s not really important right now,” Marshall said.
    “I could tell something was wrong. Is she okay?”
    “She’s fine,” he said, “Physically. Simone’s car was stolen.”
    “Really? From where?”
    “Right out of the lot where she was doing her photo shoot.”
    “That’s terrible, what did the police say?”
    He shrugged, “It’s hard to tell. She’s really pissed and she wasn’t making much sense. She’s trying to get a train to Asheville but there’s nothing that will be there before we leave. She was talking about renting a car….”
    “So, she’s still coming?” Eva asked. She was too far gone with the alcohol to